Somerville College founded 1879
Somerville College Oxford, where Catherine and Bamba studied, was founded in 1879; women could sit exams but were not formally awarded degrees until 1920.
Snapshot · Empire: World History
370. The First British Indians: Saving Jews In Nazi Germany (Ep 2)
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Jun 21, 2026
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Lena Schäfer Arrives: The Beginning of a Fifty-Year Love Story
At 11:19 · chapter starts 10:25
Queen Victoria, who trusted German governesses above all others for their discipline, brought Lena Schäfer into the Duleep Singh household. Lena is described as kind and gentle — exactly the stable maternal presence that the traumatised, orphaned Catherine craved at sixteen. What begins as dependence transforms into something more durable: when Catherine goes up to Somerville College Oxford, Lena comes too, despite there being younger siblings at home who arguably needed a governess more. Anita Anand reads the relationship carefully — she spent over a decade with these women's archives — and concludes that what kindles at Somerville and continues for forty years is 'a loving relationship.' Whether sexual or not, it is acknowledged by Sophia, a notorious prude, who uses the word 'intimate' and never once questions the fact that Catherine and Lena are a package deal.
A Love Story Across 50 Years
Lena Schäfer arrived as a governess when Catherine was around 16. Within years she was following her to Oxford, across Europe, and finally to Germany — and the two were never separated again for five decades. Whether sexual or not, their relationship was a love story acknowledged even by Sophia, a notorious prude.
Lena Schäfer 12 years older than Catherine
Lena Schäfer, the German governess who became Catherine's lifelong companion, was 12 years her senior and arrived when Catherine was around 16.
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